I’ve been excited to check out Babylonia’s BB-Slen Passionfruit, since I previously owned their version of the meh dai (BB-Tai). I received a package from their US retailer, Nova Natural Toys & Crafts, and it was full of goodies for my little ones. Both kiddos received baby carriers (a doll meh dai and doll ring sling) with some babies to fill them. Such a sweet surprise.

Passionfruit is a striped wrap, with perfect fall colors. I’m a fan of these colors year round. I love the stripes – they really help with teaching and learning different carries. The stripes help you differentiate which rail is up and which is down. I hope this wrap helps one of the many teaching libraries in the area.

This wrap is a thinner wrap. It’s soft enough for a newborn and can definitely be used for bigger/heavier babies in multi-pass carries. It’s 100% cotton – so it’s nice and breathable. It would make a wonderful wrap on hot days. It’s easy care, which I know is very important to some parents. You can just throw it into the washer when it’s dirty. No special instructions.

I love using Passionfruit for multi-pass carries. With a smaller baby, I can see using it with a single pass carry or a one shoulder pass. A heavier baby might need the multi-pass carries if you’re carrying for a long period of time. I haven’t had any issues with shoulder digging, but I could see that it might be possible with carrying for a while.

This wrap is also pretty solid. I didn’t notice any stretch being a factor. There is limited give and I didn’t have to readjust or fix any passes. I would consider this a workhorse wrap. I could use it for anything and have no issue throwing it in the wash if necessary. Like I previously stated, it’s an airy wrap. It doesn’t retain much heat at all.

This wrap isn’t too slippery, nor is it sticky. Knots hold tight. Slip knots work really well. This wrap is soft and snuggly – almost reminds me of my favorite flannel shirt. It’s floppy from the first time you wash it. It’s a great starter wrap, a great teaching wrap, a great wrap all together.

I got to host the HoP #2 traveler from Apatura Wovens and I was too excited! I loved the pattern right away from the photos that I was able to see in the chatter group and I wanted to be able to touch the double weave firsthand. HoP is mercerized cotton and 3.2 meters. HoP ended up being a whole lot of fun to play with.

Tot was amazed by this wrap. He loved the texture of the double weave. He kept trying to figure it out. He was constantly rubbing it between his fingers and pointing out the colors. Due to the double weave, this wrap is dense. It’s thick, without being overwhelmingly so. It’s extremely soft and perfect for a blanket. The shoulders were cushy, I didn’t have an issue with digging at all.

HoP is a grippy wrap that retains shape. The mercerized cotton and double weave made this wrap very supportive. It was a dream as a ruck wrap. I’m a fan of single pass carries with HoP. It’s also on the wide side, so it’s great for toddlers. The blunt edges made it harder to tie a knot, but with how broken in, it almost didn’t matter. The thickness of the wrap makes it a tiny bit cumbersome, but as it starts to break in more and more, it gets shape and is able to mold to your body. There’s limited give – overall a pretty solid wrap.

I was offered the chance to test out Apple Blossom Wovens’ Heirloom Ruby and Sapphire and I jumped on it. Ruby and Sapphire are a part of ABW’s Heirloom line that have just started to be released. Heirloom Ruby is a mercerized cotton blend and Heirloom Sapphire is 100% cotton. I was able to test out both wraps during the same time so I could try out and compare both blends.

Heirloom is a great print! It’s dry to the touch, but it’s nicely textured. They are also grippy. They have some micro-texture, but not so grippy where it’s hard to get passes around. It helps to get the passes to “lock” right into place and not slip. There is some stretch (horizontally and vertically – and dare I say diagonally?!), which gives it a bit of a bounce – makes for amazing chest passes.

Heirloom Sapphire is the perfect blue. I love my blues, so I was excited that I was going to get to try this one out. Sapphire is 100% cotton. It’s a pretty solid wrap, with just a bit of bounce. I was the first one to play with it, so it wasn’t fully broken in – but it was well on its way. It started to get floppy when it was time for it to go.

Heirloom Ruby is a true red. It’s hard to find a true red wrap, so I was anxious to see Ruby in person. Tot designated the red wrap “the best” and used it as a blanket for its duration here. The merc cotton in Ruby was amazing. It made the wrap smoother, so less textured. So it was easier to glide- should have made the passes slippery, but didn’t because of the micro-texture that I mentioned above. It almost felt like it had a tiny bit of a shine – at least in direction sunlight. Even though it came to me brand new, it was soft – softer than Sapphire. It was cuddly and smooshy – probably why Tot made it his blanket.

I would definitely recommend both wraps to a beginner. They are easy to use wraps, extremely easy to tighten each rail. They are easy care wraps – so washing them is no issue. I can imagine wrapping an itty bitty newborn in the cushy wrap of Ruby, and throwing my toddler up in Sapphire – and then switching with no issue.

I decided that I needed to get one more review up before the year was over. Bijou Wear’s Stella Wonderland was the perfect wrap for the job! It goes on sale tonight at midnight over on their website. Their chatter group on Facebook has games and giveaways going on tonight for NYE!

Bijou Wear Stella Wonderland

Eco2Cotton

$$

Machine woven

Support: Above average

Best for: ALL babies

Carries: ALL carries

I was able to test out Bijou’s Stella Wonderland before release and I was so excited. I’ve heard a lot about Eco2, but haven’t been able to try out a wrap that was made with it. On first glance, the coloring was right up my alley. It was this perfect soft blue with ecru. The fun retro star design with Bijou’s subtle logo really reminded me of snow against the sky, as their website states.

Let me just say, I love the texture! Rubbing my hand on the Eco2 side, you could feel all the little slubby nubs. It really reminds of the silk blends that are out there. The ecru side is really smooth, which gives you multiple options when you wrap. It was soft when it arrived, thanks to its first tester, but I can tell that it’s gotten floppier in the time it’s been here.

I’ve done multiple carries in the week or so that Stella’s been here. I will say that it wraps a little short, due to the thickness of the wrap. It has some weight to it, which was nice in the cooler weather that we’ve been having. I threw Tot up in a double hammock and Giselle’s back carry – which was extremely supportive. He felt weightless and it was comfortable. I had no issues carrying him around the mall for hours while I was Christmas shopping. I didn’t encounter any digging and I didn’t have to readjust at all. I even got the chance to throw Birdie up – she’s 5 and 63 pounds now. I put her up in a simple ruck, just to see how the Eco2 held up. Stella was still comfortable! Stella just didn’t sag at all. It was so supportive.

Being able to wrap with Stella in this colder weather has been amazing. It’s extremely snuggly, almost like the most comfortable blanket that you own. I can see that Stella will shine in shorties and ring slings – maybe during the warmer months. It’s that supportive. The texture is my favorite part. I can’t get over the little nubs. I’m thinking that Stella might have to stick around for a little while longer.

Ethos Babywearing is based in Northern Utah and makes some amazing wraps. The owner, Whitney Olsen, gives back to the community with a percentage of each wrap sold. A friend of mine needed help breaking in her Angel Cakes and I jumped at the chance. This handwoven visitor was a delight to have. It was handwoven on looms in Nepal. The yarn is hand-spun and hand-printed, which makes it that much more delightful.

Angel Cakes is solid. Because it isn’t broken in, I can say that it is a solid wrap so far. It was a little crunchy. But it is going to be magnificent when it’s fully broken in. I was able to try a Shepherd’s Carry and a reinforced ruck. It shined in both carries. It’s extremely supportive, it didn’t feel like Tot weighed anything at all – which at almost 40 pounds is awesome. Right now, it’s a been cumbersome, since it isn’t broken in. I had to work a bit to get passes around. I kept rolling it in rings and just using it to help break it in.

It’s grippy and textured. Tot would run his fingers over it to fall asleep when he was in it. It was nice and warm in the colder weather. I would love to have it visit me again once it’s fully broken in. Right now, it was a bit stiff, so I can just imagine what it will be once it’s fully broken in. It seems like it would be such a great wrap once it softens up a bit.

Soul Slings is a great company, based out of India, that has extremely affordable baby carriers. They have woven wraps, SSCs (soft structured carriers), the Soul Tai (which is their version of the mei tai), and ring slings. They’re woven in a mill in Southern India, that only uses wind and solar energy. All carriers are made in house in Bangalore, India. They first popped up on my radar, almost a year ago. I was contacted by Soul to host their latest jacquard wrap. Flyaway and I said yes. Prior to this, I hadn’t tried one of their jacquard wraps yet.

Flyaway is 100% cotton, which means it’s supportive. There’s a bit of cush in the shoulder passes that I did. I also had no issues with digging at all. There’s a tiny bit of bounce, which helps get the passes exactly where I need them. I had Tot up in a double hammock, multiple times, and I had no issues keeping him up there for hours at a time. Flyaway is a pretty solid wrap. It was a little tough, at first, but I can see that it still needs to be broken in some.

I love the texture of the wrap. The pattern on the wrap pops out and really helps keep it grippy. I had no issues with my passes sliding down. I did need to tighten each rail appropriately, to make sure that I lost some of the extra fabric that I had. It was a bit cumbersome, but I feel with more use, it’ll be easier to get the passes where I need them.

This is a workhorse wrap. I wouldn’t consider this a delicate wrap. It is easy to use and easy to wash. It’s not one to pick up dirt or stains easily. The wrap was a bit warm, which I liked since the weather was turning. But just airy enough, that I didn’t feel overwhelmed. Right now, I would say that the wrap holds its shape well, but working with it will help loosen it up.

I really enjoyed having this wrap here. I really loved this shade of yellow. It was a great addition to my line up. It’s soft, cuddly, and just fun to use.